New EAC rules of origin ‘will spur regional manufacturing industry’

The revision of rules of origin for products manufactured within the East African Community (EAC) have encouraged investment and boosted manufacturing sector within the region, the business community and officials have said. In Article 1 of General Agreement on Tariff and Trade, rules of origin are defined as laws, regulations and administrative determinations of general application applied by any member to determine the country of origin of goods leading to the granting of tariff preferences. Different stakeholders were speaking during the 7th session between the Ministry of East African Community and the Rwandan private sector, last week. The meeting sought to learn from the private sector’s experience on the implementation of the revised EAC Rules of Origin, and to share updates ahead of another meeting later this month that is envisaged to carry out a comprehensive review of Common External Tariff (CET). The 25 revised EAC rules of Origin (RoO) came into effect on January 23, 2015. While expounding on the revised rules, Fred Nuwagaba, a senior customs officer at Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), said they are more flexible, clearer and more explanatory. “They encourage investment in manufacturing, encourage investment in agriculture and aim at boosting processing industry in the region.”